Upset of Nadal a breath of fresh air

[joeri888]

Wouldn't you agree? Not because it's Rafa, but because the tour seems stuck in a locked hegemony or something in which everything seems predictable. The slower, unified surfaces, the advanced technology, the death of the surface specialists, the solid grip of the top guys. That are a few things that we've come to know since Roger Federer that AREN"T great. The last two years it's been Rafa and Nole in every final, Nole winning except on clay, Fed and Murray making the semis, Ferrer, Berdych pretty solid to the quarters but hardly ever upsetting big 4 etc. etc. It's been BORING for a long time. And while I love to watch Roger Federer play and could cope with his boringness, tennis could do with some remembering that on any given day any upset can happen. Rosol cna go on and win the title, but he could just as well eat bakery against Kohlschreiber. That's what makes tennis beautiful. Not to hate on Nadal or anything, but it was due time that something big happened to one of the top guys. Now that it's the guy in the Murray half, it's even more interesting because that half is more or less wide open. Rosol/Kohlschreiber could make the semis, Tsonga's there, in the other quarter Ferrer/Raonic/Delpo/Roddick will all challenge along with Murray. This could be a great tournament and hopefully one that is the start of the end of predictable tennis.

[Leelord337]

It was just a bad matchup for Nadal. The grass plays very fast and the ball stays relatively low in the first week (historically Nadal struggled in 1st week 5 setters at Wimby like Youzhny and Robert Kendrick), and it seemed that Rosol took the Djokovic approach to taking it to Nadal. Hammering those 2hbh to nadals forehand getting the short reply and the easy winner. It was a dream match for Rosol and I think the biggest upset since Boris Becker in the 2nd round years and years ago.

[joeri888]

Originally Posted by Leelord337

It was just a bad matchup for Nadal. The grass plays very fast and the ball stays relatively low in the first week (historically Nadal struggled in 1st week 5 setters at Wimby like Youzhny and Robert Kendrick), and it seemed that Rosol took the Djokovic approach to taking it to Nadal. Hammering those 2hbh to nadals forehand getting the short reply and the easy winner. It was a dream match for Rosol and I think the biggest upset since Boris Becker in the 2nd round years and years ago.

Yeah, but I don't want to discuss the match. This is not about Nadal, but about the state of mens tennis and whether it could do with this upset.

[don_nguyen11490]

The answer is yes. The last time we got a new round of champions was practically a decade ago. Even during Pete's heyday we had some really interesting competitors come up and shake up the slams and even win some of them. I'd like the field to turn into something like the World Cup. Some good players, some great players and some fantastic players all of which can pull an upset on any given day or at least make a really fantastic match.

As long as it doesn't turn into the musical chairs that is the WTA.

[TigerTim]

Pat Cash was on 5Live talking about the Becker match in the 2nd round (?) and how all the players knew about it and he himself thought there was no one stopping him after that for the title. Confident much?! Guess he won so it was okay

[Sarzy]

I agree OP. The game needed a bit of a shake up, I'd personally become quite bored with how routine everything was. We needed some new players to step up and/or for an upset to happen.

[skip1969]

the big 3 slam stranglehold has kinda killed it for me, so i'm not complaining.

[Clarky21]

Somehow I doubt you would be saying the same thing if Fed had lost in the second round.

The truth is,a top seed losing this early is not good for these tournaments whether or not you want to admit it. Especially to a one and done stopper like Rosol,who has never accomplished squat in his entire career until now.

[joeri888]

Originally Posted by Clarky21

Somehow I doubt you would be saying the same thing if Fed had lost in the second round.

The truth is,a top seed losing this early is not good for these tournaments whether or not you want to admit it. Especially to a one and done stopper like Rosol,who has never accomplished squat in his entire career until now.

I did not, nor will I deny my Federerfanatism. However, Fed is not in Nadal's half, so I watch that half relatively neutral. I do not want Federer to lose, because I love watching him, but the truth is that the game can use some new names, and some major upsets and reminders that anything can happen. Djokovic and Nadal are the dominant ones at the moment, Roger not so much, but in 2010, him losing to Soderling and almost Falla could be said the same about. It wouldn't be me, because I don't necessarily love the game more than I am a Federer fan, but yeah it would be. The game is seriously lacking surprises and this was a good one. I think it SHOULD be a one and done stopper, because it shows you again that it can be ANYONE. It can be Benneteau today, Baghdatis tomorrow, or ALejandro Falla the day after that. That's the beauty of sports and in tennis we went far away from that.

[PONG]

I agree tennis has been stuck in a predictable routine for years now. The field has been very weak and incapable of upsets thus you see the same guys over and over again in the quarters / semis / finals. As you said there are almost no surface specialists left as every surface plays the same these days. There are very few opportunities for upsets anymore, only perhaps grass tournamtnets in the first week, Madrid on blue clay or Paris indoors which imo is one of the most exciting tournaments today.

[Don Felder]

I think it was refreshing not so much because of the stranglehold the big 3 have on the Slams (which DOES get monotonous, even as a Fed fan), but because it was one of the first times in a while we saw a TRUE underdog step up, play fearless, and ACTUALLY CLOSE OUT one of these top dogs.

Sure, Soderling beating Rafa at the French was a huge upset, and sure, Tsonga coming back from 2 sets down to knock off Fed at Wimbledon were big upsets the last few years. But let's not forget: those guys were top 10-20 players themselves. This is really the first time since the late 90s/early 00s that I can remember an unheralded guy showing the balls to just take it to one of these guys for 5 sets, and it was truly refreshing.

It was also refreshing because it was a welcome departure in style from the typical grinding crap we see, but that's neither here nor there.

[jakemcclain32]

I don't call it a breath of fresh air...I like seeing the same guys over and over if they deserve to be there, and continue to win.

But I do congratulate someone when they upset the big names. It means they deserved the win. I just want them to keep up their momentum, and not all of them do that.

[rommil]

Rosol's play is a breathe of fresh air, but Rafa prefers to smell Eau of his Toilette in between serves.

[stringertom]

IW & Madrid were mild signs of an uprising...until the finals. Might see the same thing next weekend. Would be nice!

[stringertom]

Originally Posted by rommil

Rosol's play is a breathe of fresh air, but Rafa prefers to smell Eau of his Toilette in between serves.

Crusty, not musty! ROFLMAO!!

[kragster]

Nice post OP. I'm a Rafa fan but I do think stuff is getting predictable these days. It's nice to at least have the possibility that a top player is challenged in a match rather than watching a bagel/breadstick party. That being said though, it is actually really only fun if

a) multiple top players are upset
b) Some young gun/outsider has a dream run and actually builds on the upset

The top 4 are heavyweights that balance each other and we end up getting competitive matches. If one of them is knocked out and there is no strong contender to replace them, all we end up with is an easy title for one of the others.

What would be nice is if we have MANY potential upset makers that spoil the party, not just one. I may stand corrected but I predict Rosol will go out in the 3rd or 4th round and basically what we will have is one of the other top 3 winning anyway (which I'm totally fine with since I'm a huge Nole fan).

[BigServer1]

Originally Posted by Don Felder

I think it was refreshing not so much because of the stranglehold the big 3 have on the Slams (which DOES get monotonous, even as a Fed fan), but because it was one of the first times in a while we saw a TRUE underdog step up, play fearless, and ACTUALLY CLOSE OUT one of these top dogs.

Sure, Soderling beating Rafa at the French was a huge upset, and sure, Tsonga coming back from 2 sets down to knock off Fed at Wimbledon were big upsets the last few years. But let's not forget: those guys were top 10-20 players themselves. This is really the first time since the late 90s/early 00s that I can remember an unheralded guy showing the balls to just take it to one of these guys for 5 sets, and it was truly refreshing.

It was also refreshing because it was a welcome departure in style from the typical grinding crap we see, but that's neither here nor there.

This. This. This. This.

This.

[TJfederer16]

Originally Posted by Don Felder

I think it was refreshing not so much because of the stranglehold the big 3 have on the Slams (which DOES get monotonous, even as a Fed fan), but because it was one of the first times in a while we saw a TRUE underdog step up, play fearless, and ACTUALLY CLOSE OUT one of these top dogs.

Sure, Soderling beating Rafa at the French was a huge upset, and sure, Tsonga coming back from 2 sets down to knock off Fed at Wimbledon were big upsets the last few years. But let's not forget: those guys were top 10-20 players themselves. This is really the first time since the late 90s/early 00s that I can remember an unheralded guy showing the balls to just take it to one of these guys for 5 sets, and it was truly refreshing.

It was also refreshing because it was a welcome departure in style from the typical grinding crap we see, but that's neither here nor there.

agreed, good post

[Fearsome Forehand]

It will be somewhat interesting to see if Rosol does the predictably thing and loses in the next round.

The big 3 have dominated for awhile now. But the big 3 are all great players with multiple slam wins. Fed is 30+ and still playing at a very high level which is usual. Pretty soon, he will slip a bit and be done so enjoy him while he is still around. There is always the next wave of great players coming along so this particular big three will not dominate too much longer.

[DavaiMarat]

Originally Posted by Leelord337

It was just a bad matchup for Nadal. The grass plays very fast and the ball stays relatively low in the first week (historically Nadal struggled in 1st week 5 setters at Wimby like Youzhny and Robert Kendrick), and it seemed that Rosol took the Djokovic approach to taking it to Nadal. Hammering those 2hbh to nadals forehand getting the short reply and the easy winner. It was a dream match for Rosol and I think the biggest upset since Boris Becker in the 2nd round years and years ago.

I agree but the courts usually play faster and slicker the 1st week but did you see the spin Rosol was getting off his groundies? Man it was Nadal like. The ball was jumping up to Nadals shoulders. It was almost Nadal spin vs Nadal-like Spin except Rosol's hitting zone is much higher then Nadals.